Casual Italian Dining plus a Fun Birthday!

…almost but not quite winding down our visit with Laurie’s family in St. Louis Missouri in at the end of May.  In this post it’s all about another dining experience and a birthday celebration, not mine this time!

Under the guidance of Laurie’s sister Bonnie and Bonnie’s husband Bill, we were off to a casual Italian restaurant for dinner.  Laurie and I both love good Italian cuisine!

Farotto’s was founded as a family owned pizzeria in 1956.  The owners were the current owner’s sister and brother-in-law.  He started there at the age of 11 as a busboy.  When his brother-in-law retired in the early 1980s, that busboy…who had worked his way up the ladder and really learned the business…became sole owner of the restaurant.  Several expansions and remodels have taken place and now Farotto’s features a bar, year around patio, dining rooms and a banquet area.  This is a big restaurant!

Between the labor shortage and the fact that Farrotto’s was quite busy, we did have a bit of a wait…but this is a popular St. Louis dining destination.  We were seated in the indoor/outdoor patio dining area.

We started out with an order of Toasted Ravioli. ($13.00/now $14.00) Yes, we had eaten most of the order before we remembered to take a photo! 

Toasted ravioli was created and popularized in a St. Louis Italian-American neighborhood called “The Hill”.  At least 3 different restaurants claim to have ‘invented’ this popular appetizer. 

Usually, some sort of meat is wrapped in square ravioli, then it breaded and deep fried until the pasta shell becomes somewhat crispy, dry and browned.  The toasted ravioli is then served with marinara sauce for dipping.  Parmesan cheese is commonly sprinkled on top of the ravioli.

Laurie and Bonnie ordered a large “Original House Salad” with Iceberg lettuce, green leaf lettuce, provel cheese, cherry tomatoes and the house dressing. ($13.00/now $14.00) The split the salad as they did with their entrée.

The sister’s shared entrée for dinner was the Pasta Farotto. ($19.00/now $22.00) It was penne pasta was topped with grilled chicken, pesto cream sauce, fresh mushrooms, fresh Mozzarella pearls, baby spinach and fresh tomato.

This item isn’t shown on Farotto’s current menu.  This was the Scallop Risotto…Bill’s entrée. ($32.00) In addition to several nice large scallops, this entrée featured baby spinach, tomatoes, onions and as much cheese as was needed.

I ordered the Shrimp Scampi Pasta as my entrée. ($22.00/not on the current on-line menu) It was simple with some nice size shrimp, blistered tomatoes and cheese, all in a light garlic butter sauce.

St. Louis is loaded with Very Good to Excellent Italian restaurants and Farotto’s is one of the most popular.  Faroto’s Pasta and Pizzeria is located at 9525 Manchester Road in Rock Hill Missouri, not far from St. Louis itself.  Phone: 314-962-0048) Website: https://www.farottos.com/.

Now onto a family birthday party in a St. Louis Missouri suburban area!

Laurie’s niece Kasey and her husband Kevin are raising 4 daughters and they invited us to the birthday pool party they were staging for their 2^nd youngest, Charley.  I took this photo of the primary party scene prior to all of the guests arriving. 

This was Charley’s 7^th birthday!  There were little girls everywhere, more children than Laurie and I have seen in one place in several years.  Charley is a star hockey player and her guests were members of the team.  In addition to her parents and her 3 sisters, there were some cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents plus all of the other little girl’s parents!  

Charley was very happy…both with her presents as well as being the center of attention as the birthday girl.  That cap in the first photo was one of her gifts.  Her friends stayed close as Charley opened her presents.   

This is a photo of Kevin, a dedicated dad, playing his role well!  I can’t even imagine heading a household that features 5 women and 2 dogs…both female!  Kevin and his better half, Kasey, are doing a fine job of parenting, that’s for sure.

Of course I had to take party photos of Great Aunt Laurie as well as Grandpa Bill and Grandma Bonnie.  We spent most of the time just chilling and watching the action, but we did enjoy some great food, birthday cup cakes and one or two adult beverages.

…and this is a photo of Kasey with her parents, Laurie’s sister Bonnie and Bonnie’s husband Bill.  Kasey is Charley’s mother as well as the mother of Charley’s younger sister Elliot and her older sisters, Avery and Delaney. 

It was a great birthday party and all the guests and their parents had a nice time pool side with food and beverages while their children just had a great time in the pool, playing on a trampoline plus a softball game was started up before we left.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave